The winners of the PCI-AlpenCup 2026: Nathanaël Ball (right) and Samuel Rétière from France (Photo: © PCI Augsburg GmbH)
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July 2026
Fourteen young tile layers from seven countries competed against each other in Augsburg at the PCI AlpenCup. The French duo took the title. The German team made it onto the podium.
On June 25th and 26th, 2026, tile-laying duos from Denmark, Germany, France, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland and the Czech Republic competed for the title at the fifth PCI Alpine CupThe competition took place at the training center (ABZ) of the Augsburg Construction Guild. The teams of two had to complete a task, designed to meet the standards of WorldSkills or EuroSkills, within a set time limit. Besides the strict time constraints and technical challenges, this year's participants had to contend with the extremely high temperatures in the workshops.
It is described as "quite demanding". Heiko Bayer-Oppelt The task that all the young craftspeople had to face was this: "They had to build a bathtub with a raised seating and reclining area, using tiles cut to a size of 60 by 120 centimeters," explained the national coach of the German team. National Tile Team In a press release from the German Tile and Natural Stone Association, one of the challenges was laying the tile strips from the outside, across the shelf and back wall. The seven teams were given twelve hours for their project; on the first day, they had three hours to prepare the substructure.
According to the association, the German team – consisting of Luis Brauner and Lukas Blos – opted for a risky but effective tactic: they were the only nation to use a mineral sealing slurry instead of a fleece-butyl membrane. This resulted in a more uniform and, above all, rougher surface. "This method, which complies with the strict standards for swimming pools, ensured a uniformly rough surface and therefore better contact," explains Lukas Blos.
In a competition that remained exciting until the very end, they secured Nathanaël Ball and Samuel Rétière France won the title. Switzerland took second place with Noah Hess and Tobias LiechtiThe German national tiling team, for which Lukas Blos and Luis Brauner The third-place finisher was [name missing]. Denmark, Sweden, Austria, and the Czech Republic took the following places.
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"This third place is a great success for us," said Luis Brauner, drawing a positive conclusion from the two-day competition. "The extremely high temperatures in the workshops were very demanding; these conditions challenged us not only physically," the winner of GermanSkills 2025 concluded.
Daniela Schmiedle congratulated the French tiling duo on winning the title. The managing director of Sika Germany She also highlighted the excellent performance of all teams and the focused and motivated atmosphere throughout the competition. "Since its premiere, the competition has developed into an important platform for up-and-coming skilled tradespeople – and the fifth edition has once again demonstrated the potential of these young talents," she summarized in a company press release.
The construction chemicals supplier PCI Augsburg GmbH, which has been part of the Sika Group since May 2023, launched the PCI Alpine Cup in 2021 as a new format for promoting young talent, together with the European Union National Tile Associations The PCI Alpine Cup was introduced. The German team won the inaugural event. Austria secured the title in 2022, 2023, and 2024. The French took the lead in 2026. "We are delighted that the PCI Alpine Cup has become a fixture in the annual calendar of vocational competitions and are already very much looking forward to the next edition in 2028," said Daniela Schmiedle, Managing Director of Sika Germany.
Source: German Tile and Natural Stone Association within the ZDB / PCI Augsburg GmbH
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